The green genes all disappeared immediately when they were selected against by
the sandy colored stream bed conditions. This is in contrast to the slow decline in
yellow genes that was observed under conditions when the stream bed was green
and yellow fish were selected against. Green genes disappeared immediately
because they are dominant and always expressed. Any fish having a green gene is
green in color. The yellow genes declined slowly because they are recessive and
masked by the presence of a gene of another color (green or red). The take home
message is that dominant genes can be eliminated quickly from a population by a
new selective pressure. Recessive genes decline slowly because they are hidden or
masked.
Extra Questions (not on student sheets)
â¢ Real populations change much more slowly than these toothpick fish. Why?
Changes in the environment are usually much more gradual than in the fish
simulation, for example, the coming of an Ice Age or the encroachment of trees
into an open field. Also, real populations are usually large, containing hundreds or
thousands of individuals. In a large population of toothpick fish, it is unlikely that
the green individuals would so quickly outnumber the others, or that all green fish
would be eliminated in one generation. However, occasionally there is a rapid
change in the environment (often caused by humans) that can have a dramatic
effect, especially in small populations, as in the pollution-induced disappearance
of green algae and vegetation in the fish activity.
Students generally understand the fish simulation well enough to answer some "What If"
questions, extending the concepts from the activity.
â¢ What if each of you had started with only one green gene among your fish? How would
the population have been different?
â¢ What if the orange fish had been best camouflaged, so that a few green fish were eaten
each generation?
Let students propose their own what if questions too. Students are often eager to test some of
their answers. If time allows, the Toothpick Fish problems can be done again with new
conditions.
â¢ If brown eyes are dominant, why don't we all have brown eyes?
Perhaps brown eyes are not an advantage for survival. Or, there may be few
brown-eye genes in the human gene pool, compared to the number of blue-eye
genes. (In fact, eye color inheritance is not as simple as this. Eye color is a
polygenic trait, a trait that involves multiple pairs of genes, rather than one pair.
However, for purposes of this discussion, it is a relevant example).
â¢ How does the variety in a gene pool impact adaptability?
The GENETICS Project
University of Washington
http://gsoutreach.gs.washington.edu
Genome Sciences Education Outreach